


Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker

by ere_the_sun_rises (orphan_account)



Series: A Matter of Change [3]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Girl Power, Girl Saves Boy, Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker, Multi, POV Female Character, POV First Person, Post Mass Effect 2, Pre Mass Effect 3, Side Story, Women Being Awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-23
Updated: 2013-07-03
Packaged: 2017-12-15 22:30:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/854717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/ere_the_sun_rises
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“This is concerning your asari friend, on Illium?” I questioned, reading over the reports. “What was her name, T’Soni?”</i>
</p><p>  <i>“That’s exactly it,” Charlie confirmed, her arms crossed above the handrail. “She’s an old friend of ours- she helped us take down Saren. Normally we would take this assignment ourselves; but we’ve had something crucial pop up by the Alpha Relay, and it just can’t wait.”</i></p><p>  <i>“We wanted to send someone we trust to help Liara,” Paxton said, leaning on the handrail. “We came to a consensus you’d be the best choice. You have a…very particular set of skills that will lend itself to the mission.”</i></p><p>  <i>“We trust she’ll be in good hands,” John finished.</i></p><p> </p><p>It's only been a few weeks since the Collector Base was destroyed and Charlie Shepard cut ties with Cerberus that something else pops up- namely, intel that could help an old friend track down the mysterious Shadow Broker. However, before they get a chance to help her, Admiral Hackett comes in with an important assignment that just can't wait- thus, it's up to Glenn to deliver the intel to Liara T'Soni and help her infiltrate the legendary Lair of the Shadow Broker.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Story Index

**Author's Note:**

> And here we have the first chapter of LotSB! Credit is to Bioware, like always, and I hope you enjoy the continuing adventures of our snark-spitting heroine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Mass Effect series, Lair of the Shadow Broker and related content, characters, situations, and all that good stuff belong to Bioware. Tomcat and Glenn are mine (custom Shepards with facecodes available.)
> 
> Here we have our index of main characters in the story.


	2. An Intriguing Assignment Afforded by Hectic Higher-ups

“This is concerning your asari friend, on Illium?” I questioned, reading over the reports. “What was her name, T’Soni?”

“That’s exactly it,” Charlie confirmed, her arms crossed above the handrail. “She’s an old friend of ours- she helped us take down Saren. Normally we would take this assignment ourselves; but we’ve had something crucial pop up by the Alpha Relay, and it just can’t wait.”

“We wanted to send someone we trust to help Liara,” Paxton said, leaning on the handrail. “We came to a consensus you’d be the best choice. You have a…very particular set of skills that will lend itself to the mission.”

“We trust she’ll be in good hands,” John finished.

I took another good look, nodded, and collapsed the files onto my omni-tool. “So you’ll drop me off on Illium, I go help your friend T’Soni chase the Shadow Broker, and then I rendezvous with you…?”

“We’ll pick you up as soon as we can,” Charlie said, “But if we’re still at the Alpha Relay you might have to arrange shuttle transport. Or, just stay put and wait until we can come back.”

I nodded. “Right. Okay. Help Shepard cubed’s old asari friend hunt down the most elusive guy in the galaxy. That’ll be a cinch, for me. Chose well. How close are we to Illium?”

“It’ll be about two hours,” Charlie provided, “It’s enough time for you to pack up and say your goodbyes.”

I nodded. “Square deal, Charles. I’ll be off to do that.” I turned and stepped out of the briefing room, hooking an immediate right to the tech lab. Mordin looked up when I entered, pausing in his typing. “What did Shepard want?”

“They’re sending me on a very important assignment,” I shared, gathering up my workstation to pack away. “They have an old friend on Illium they need to help with something; but they need to get out to the Alpha Relay. Very important, they said, couldn’t say exactly what it is they’re up to. Anyway, they’re sending me instead.”

Mordin straightened up. “Gone for how long?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Could be days, weeks- probably not months.” I finished straightening up, stepped back with my hands on my hips. “Anyway; I’ll be back before you know it.”

Mordin blinked at me, processing the whole situation (it only took him a half a second, as a matter of course). “Made good choice,” he told me, with one of his froggy smiles. “Still, will miss you.”

“Miss me?” I shook my head. “Come on.”

“Have to mix my own formulas now,” he said, smirking. “Am old- you know this. Bouts of unsteadiness in hands. Regrettable, but, expected. Have lived unusually long life for my species.”

I finished clearing out my space and turned to him. “I don’t know when I’ll be back,” I said, “but I will.”

Mordin took my hand and shook it. “Then good luck, Glenn. Not that you need it.” he released my hand, paused, for a millisecond, then suddenly hugged me. It lasted about ten seconds (which may have been ten minutes to him), until he let me go and held me at arm’s length.

“What was that for?” I questioned.

“Handshake suitable or student, protégé…” he paused, and fussed at the hair that never sat straight for me. “Not for…Glenn.” He sighed, squeezing my shoulders. My hair slipped out again. He smiled, blinked, and let me go. “Wish Dantus could see you now…” he said. “Would be exceedingly proud.” A beat. “I know I am.”

Taken aback, I stood there in silence for a few moments. “You’re the one who threatened Joker with death and dismemberment, aren’t you?”

Mordin broke off; looking almost bashful by human standards (the expression might’ve meant something completely different to salarians). “Knowing you, you probably threw in dissection, didn’t you?”

Mordin cleared his throat. “Perhaps…instructed him, in certain matters. Told him to take care of you. Know you are perfectly capable- still, exposed heart is fragile thing.”

I hugged Mordin again. He hugged back. “Stay sharp while I’m gone,” I said, “Keep hitting those high notes for me.” Mordin smiled, nodded, and as I made my way out to the CIC I heard another rousing round of _Scientist Salarian_ beginning behind me.

“You’re leaving?” Kasumi inquired (I had entered to find her digging through my underwear drawer, on the premise that she was looking for the pair she’d seen in Jeff’s pocket, just to make sure they were mine.)

“Off to help our resident triple trouble’s old friend,” I said. “You remember Liara T’Soni? Anyway, I’ll be back.”

“Sure thing,” she replied, cloaked, and disappeared.

Jack just gave me a nonchalant look (which was practically a teary-eyed daycare leg cling in her eloquent plethora of nonchalant looks), said, “We’re still on for getting our ‘bitch-kicked the Collectors and all we got was this lousy tattoo’ ink,” she told me as she left. “Not gonna let you forget.”

“I look forward to it.”

“Kisses to my bitches.”

I mimed catching them as I rounded the corner.

Tali, Garrus, Ken, and Gabby offered their best wishes down in engineering: Garrus said to duck, I told him to get new armor, the usual. Grunt told me to bash in a lot of heads, but come back, because I’m _krantt,_ and Zaeed just snorted and told me to send him a postcard. And a body count. Put the body count on the postcard.

All the team said the farewells I’d pretty much anticipated. When I got to my quarters, started to pack my things, I fell into a contemplation, as us introverts are prone.

The destruction of the Collector Base was barely a few weeks old- meanwhile, we’d been coasting the galaxy, helping people, stripping the ship of any and all Cerberus memorabilia (as John commented, “and nothing of value was lost”), and generally just living- a series of holos on my omni-tool told the story of our team- Kasumi, teaching Samara origami, the three of us trying to perfect a ramen recipe, Zaeed executing the ancient human tradition of the photobomb, Charlie attempting to sit in on meditation time with Thane and Samara. There were photos of (insert couple here; Garrus and Pax, Thane and Charles, Joker and I on some occasions) kissing or generally being mushy, and the others making grossed out faces in the background. There was Kasumi’s legacy (creating couple names, apparently a tradition, so if anyone asks where the term “Jokenn” came from, there you have it). There was a sniper rifle contest in the mess hall that we all took our wagers on (no one actually remembers who won; we were all quite drunk and Rupert was extremely peeved about the paper targets strewn everywhere the next morning). There was the day that Grunt carried Charlie around everywhere and catered to her every whim (we later learned it was krogan mother’s day; or something similar); shore leave on Illium (someone, and I’m not saying it was Kasumi, caught a candid kiss between me and my helmsman next to a vista).

I closed the folder with a soft smile, and finished putting all of my things up. Surely we were more than a team now, we were…family. Yeah.

When we landed on Illium, Jeff accompanied me in the shuttle down, patting my hand, looking at me occasionally, smiling slightly and then eyeing the window again. Then we were docking, and I stepped out just a little out of the way with him.

“Watch your back?” he asked me, then rubbed his fingers through my hair. “I know you’ll do fine. Just…come back soon, okay?”

“I will,” I promised, letting him take my hands. “Take care of everyone for me, all right?”

“I’ll do my best,” he told me, the corner of his mouth quirking- and I just had to kiss him after that.

“Safe travels,” I told him, let him go, and turned to walk for the offices and find my target. I didn’t realize until I was halfway down the hall that I was holding his cap by the visor- had he pressed it there while he was holding my hands? I turned back, but the shuttle doors were closing and the Kodiak was already puttering away. I looked at the cap, traced the _SR2_ across the front, and stuck it promptly on my head before continuing on my way.

 _After time adrift among open stars_ , I recalled, _along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began._

I found Liara’s office and rang the bell before I entered. She looked up at me as I entered, squinted, and then said, “You are one of Shepard’s companions.”

“Right,” I said, sitting. “I’ll reintroduce myself; I’m Glenn. Information broker, computer warfare specialist…well, if you’re even halfway competent you’ll know who I am.” _What I am_ went unspoken.

She nodded, leaning forward on her desk, folding her hands. “What do you need? Are any of the others here?”

I shook my head. “Nope. Just me, T’Soni. “ I tossed one leg over the other, locked my fingers together. “So, long story short, we officially told Cerberus to screw off, but our AI turned something up in their channels- they have intel on the Shadow Broker, and we figured you might be interested.” I passed her the corresponding datapad. “Charles wanted to come help you, but Hackett got her with some big important thing, so they sent me instead. I know we’re not familiar, but I know the business.” I shrugged. “They must worry about you, because they told me to watch your back.” She looked up from the datapad, to me. “So what do you say?”

She looked down to the datapad, punched a few buttons. “It…looks like an intercepted transmission between agents- with a few possibilities to his location…” she trailed off then, and I craned my neck to see a picture there of a drell. “Feron,” she said.

My brows furrowed. “…Feron?”

“He helped me recover Shepard’s body,” she said, either oblivious to or ignoring my expression, standing, taking the datapad with her. “The Shadow Broker found her first. He was going to sell her to the Collectors. Feron sacrificed himself so I could get away.” She began to walk for the door.

I stood up. “You okay, Blue?”

She halted. “Yes,” she said. “It’s just…I’ve spent two years planning revenge, and now I have the opportunity to make it a rescue.” She paused. “Come by my apartment later. Take a cab, and we can find out the next step.” She hurried away, and I was left standing in her office, pondering her words.


	3. A Murder Mystery (That Being an Overly Simplified Way to Put It)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in this one, folks. I was finishing my latest playthrough of ME3 and dealing with the resulting feels. Anyway, Bioware owns it all, and here's the latest chapter! Enjoy...

I took a cab later in the evening to Liara’s apartment- I hung around Nos Astra until then; browsed the stores, eyeballed the blatant violations and crime going on everywhere. Reminded me of home; but with expensive perfume. I stopped for lunch at some human noodle place tucked into a back alley (learned on Omega those were the best places; the only locations guarded enough where the staff lived long enough to perfect their recipe.) While there, I was somewhat amused by a Westerlund news report by some reporter with an obscenely long name that made me mutter “Gesundheit,” (which might have been what made the guys at the next table over chuckle.)

What was surprising was the sudden appearance of Charlie on the camera, along with a peevish Paxton, a scowling John, and an awkwardly-shifting Garrus (distantly, in the background, I could see Thane’s and my backs perusing the stock of a nearby vintage bookseller.)

“Commander,” said the reporter’s back, “during the geth attack on the Citadel two years ago; you were at the center of the station…so, it could be assumed that the outcome of the battle rode on your word.” Charlie stood impassively at parade rest. Paxton’s arms remained crossed- a jaw in John’s muscle twitched. “On your word, then, the Alliance Fifth Fleet sustained heavy losses when it charged immediately through the relay to save the _Destiny Ascension_ and the Citadel Council. Hundreds of human lives were lost. What do you have to say about making such decisions in-”

“I’ve had enough of your disingenuous assertions,” said John, suddenly, and he stepped forward. The reporter flinched back, but Paxton put a hand on his arm, stepped between the two, and said evenly, “John, come on. She’s a girl. You can’t hit a girl.” John gave the dragon breath and stepped back. Paxton turned around, cocked her head, scowled darkly and promptly said, “I’ve had enough of your disingenuous assertions.” She landed a solid right hook on the reporter’s jaw, sending her to the ground.

I winced.

“You _bitch_!” spat the reporter, through a fat lip and a black eye. “I’ll make sure everyone in the Alliance sees that.”

“All you want, mudslinger,” sneered Paxton, as she walked away, “I don’t work for them anymore.” The picture cut off and an asari newscaster proceeded to share that this was not the first time Ms. al-Jilani had “antagonized” the Shepard family and had been hit two years ago by an irritated John Shepard after asking probing questions about his commander’s mission. After that it degenerated into more speculation about the miraculous resurrection of Commander Shepard; soon after which I decided to get on my way.

As I rode to Liara’s apartment, rain began to fall, streaking the windows and darkening the skies. I pulled my coat in tighter, thought maybe it was high time I got a hoodie. I turned Jeff’s cap over in my hands- rubbed my thumb over the _SR2_ and smiled. _Perpetually glued to your head,_ I’d once told him. A part of him, then. I stuck it on my own head, settled into the cab and continued on my way to the apartment.

I implemented the access code that Liara had sent me to get in- however, she wasn’t there to greet me when the doors opened- instead, there was a police line. Cops were all over the place- furniture was overturned, and I could see gunshot impacts on the walls and in the windows.

“This is a secure crime scene, ma’am,” said the asari by the line, “We’re going to have to request you leave.”

“What happened here?” I asked. “What’s going on?”

The asari cop opened her mouth, but a different voice sounded from the stairwell, “Someone tried to kill your friend T’Soni.”

I turned, spotted yet another asari, one with purple flecks all over her face. She was wearing what looked like an expensive, customized set of armor.

“I gathered that much,” I replied, gesturing at the ransacked apartment.

“Officer, time to get your people out of here,” said the newcomer, to the cop.

The cop scowled. “What? You can’t give that order.”

“I just did,” said the asari. The cop left with a disgusted wave of the hand, and the other cops ceased their investigation and followed her out. I walked past the police line and into the flat.

“Tela Vasir,” said the asari, offering her hand. “Special Tactics and Recon.”

“Glenn,” I said, shaking it. “Friend of Commander Shepard’s.”

“Oh?” her brows went up, and she crossed her arms.

“She sent me here to help Liara with business,” I said, pulling up my omni-tool to find the latest email she had sent. “She was going to come herself, but the Alliance ordered her out somewhere else at the last minute. I’m her agent, effectively.”

Vasir sized me up. “I see. Do you know T’Soni?”

“Only by association,” I replied, “And what I’ve heard about her. Can you tell me what happened here?”

“She was attacked here by the Broker’s agents,” said Vasir, gesturing at the gunshot impacts in the window.

“She was expecting me,” I crossed my arms. “She would have left me a message. Can I look around?”

“Go right ahead,” said Vasir, and stepped aside to let me in.

I examined the gunshot impact first. “This wasn’t an ordinary rifle they were using,” I commented, scanning over the marks.

“Someone really wanted her dead.”

I looked around, eyeballing a few of the Prothean artifacts decorating the place. I went to one and ran fingers down the glass, frowning. My visor was resting in my pocket, and I slid it into place and switched it on for a better look. I glanced up the stairs, started up and eyed the lone picture on the bedside table- our _Normandy,_ smaller, painted in red rather than lurid Cerberus orange. The SR1, then.

Suddenly, it changed.

“It must be keyed to your DNA,” said Vasir, who had appeared behind me. “What’s that?”

I examined the picture. “Ruins. Prothean.”

“There are plenty of Prothean artifacts in this apartment,” Vasir provided, and I nodded, already headed for the stairs. “I think I have the one.”

I returned to the previous Prothean sculpture, and touched the small slit in the base. An OSD emerged from the slot, and I took it, blinking.

“Plug it into the terminal, see what we get,” said Vasir, and I nodded as I stepped over to Liara’s wall display. The face of a salarian flickered up, static roiling before the picture clarified. “It was difficult, but you paid for the best. We can narrow it down to a cluster, maybe even a system- though; you’re making me nervous, T’Soni. Are you sure this is a safe channel?”

“Just wait there, Sekat, I’ll be there momentarily,” came Liara’s voice.

“Right,” sighed Sekat. ”I’ll be at the Baria Frontiers office. You know where to go.” The call switched off.

Vasir backed off for the balcony, where I noticed a car parked. “I know where the Baria Frontiers office is. We’ll find it in the Dracon Trade Center downtown.”

“Great,” I said, “Let’s go.”

We passed out of the shadow of the rain as we drove out to the Trade Center. Vasir spent a good few minutes eyeing me sideways. “All right, I’ll bite,” she said, finally. “What’s with the hat?”

“Oh,” I said, taking it from my head, brushing my fingers over the _SR2._ “Just…a memento. Given to me by someone I care about. I’m going back to him when this is through.” I stuck it back on my head.

“I didn’t know you were with Cerberus,” she remarked. I paused, directed a narrow-eyed stare directly ahead, glancing at her out of the corner of my eye. “How did you know I was operating out of a Cerberus cell?”

“Oh,” she said, and I could see her sweat. “The colors tipped me off. I’ve run into their operatives more than once. Hunting them down, often than not.”

“Right,” I said, and I pretended not to hear her minute sigh of relief, something most people would mistake for a simple exhale. “Well, I’m not working for them anymore. Never really was, just a temporary alliance. I used their resources, then me and my associates kicked them to the curb.”

“Mm. Here’s the Dracon.”

Vasir brought the car down, and I brought my pistol up to check on it, make sure the thermal clips had loaded properly and that I had enough. As we touched down and the door popped, I climbed out into the lot and started up the stairs, Vasir following behind me. Barely were we halfway up that the windows shattered and an ear-shattering kaboom knocked me off my feet. I sat up, putting a hand to my head and wincing through the ringing and swirling double-triple vision, blinking to clear things. “ _They just took out three floors to make sure she’s dead_ ,” said Vasir, from somewhere far away. She knelt in front of me, gripping my forearms. “ _You go in on foot, I’ll secure the top._ ” I nodded, dimly, staring after her retreating form, and thinking, _a little clear in the face of an explosive, aren’t we, Vasir?_ I grabbed onto the stair rail, hoisted myself to my feet, took a shaky step, and then another. I limped to the door. I walked up the first set of stairs. Then I ran.

The first mercs I encountered were in black uniforms like I had never seen before; all clearly carrying voice mods in their helmets, because all the voices I heard were the same subvocal drone. “Got mercs, heavily armed,” I said, over my earpiece.

“ _Say hello to the Shadow Broker’s private army._ ”

“Think I’ll stick to the first syllable,” I said, and shot a paralyzing lift at them. I continued towards the top floors, racing as best I could amid an army of mercs: finally, I found the Baria Frontiers office. I halted at the kiosk, checked the records, said, “Liara got here sixteen minutes ago. I’ve got military grade explosives out here. Not armed.”

“ _Sloppy. That’s what you use when you don’t have enough time._ ”

I pushed on ahead, through the open door- _mistake, if you close it then someone has to open it to get in_ \- creeping on Thane’s silent feet, abating my breath to a mere whisper of wind, through the windows with the blown-out glass: just in time to see Vasir put a bullet in Sekat’s head.

“What now?” asked one of the uniform mercs standing by her.

“You’ve killed an innocent bystander,” she said, nonchalantly raising her pistol again. “I’m afraid I’ll have to put you down. Spectre’s authority.”

 _Bang._ The merc went down. I swallowed a pure rage- _so you think you can play me for a fool, Vasir? You’re the fool to think you can do that._

I stepped in, Carnifex aloft. I halted, as if shocked, looked then to her. “Damn it,” Vasir spat, “If I had been here a moment earlier…”

“So I suppose they got Sekat,” I said, gesturing at the salarian’s corpse.

“They did,” she said, going to lean on the frame about the broken window. “And took his data, likely.” She paused, turned her head, enough for me to see the sound guards in her…auditory orifices. “By the way, did you find your friend’s body?”

“You mean _this_ body?” and a livid T’Soni dropped from the shadows, an SMG in one hand and a corona all over. “This is the woman who’s trying to kill me. I doubled back after I left the apartment. She waited until I was in and gave the mercs the order to detonate the bombs.”

“I know,” I spat, “Way ahead of ya.” I raised the pistol, cocked off another heat sink. “Honestly, Tela. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear you’re a fake Spectre too- either that or you’re a really dumb one. First of all, the hat is black and white with a fucking ‘SR2’ printed across the front; there’s not a Cerberus logo in sight, it could stand for ‘Superficial Reflux’, for all you know. Second, that explosion should have disoriented you at least. It knocked out my higher hearing and scrambled my cognitive processes and fine motor skills for a good few minutes. Third, _you do not_ laugh at the hilariously incompetent agents of the Shadow Broker, call them sloppy, or refer to them as a private army, or _react to them being there so matter-of-factly;_ because when the Broker’s guys show up, bitches gonna die. Speaking from experience.” I narrowed my eyes. “The only thing separating all the other information brokers from _the_ Broker is resources. Believe me; no one makes it in this business as a dumbfuck. You’ve made a grave miscalculation in assuming that the only two levels of intelligence are Shadow Broker and dimwit- and if _he_ was the one to put you in charge of this operation, I’m beginning to wonder if those two might count as one and the same.”

Vasir’s fists clenched.

“Undoubtedly, he told you who I am. If not, I have a few bits of bad news for you; A, he’s played you for a fool and was planning to, _ah_ , dispose of you when you’d served your purpose. And B, he’s not gonna get the pleasure, because I’m going to paint the walls with the inside of your head. I hear asari indigo is real expensive on the market.” I squeezed the trigger halfway.

T’Soni raised her Locust. “Hand over the OSD, Vasir.”

Vasir’s knuckles popped from squeezing so hard. She clenched her teeth. “I don’t think so,” she snarled, “pureblood _bitch._ ” She tossed T’Soni back with a powerful shockwave like I hadn’t seen, and turned for the window. I beat her to the punch, tackled her out- she slowed our grappling descent with a singularity, and then shoved me to the ground, running for her car. Liara jumped down after her, ran, shooting, and cursed as she got into her skycar and flew off. “ _Damn it_!” she rushed for a taxi, and I slid into the driver’s seat with a muttered, “I’m fine, thanks for asking.”

“She’s getting away!” T’Soni cried, and I lifted off and took after Vasir in a way that was definitely not within the speed limit. “Go, go, go!” she urged, as I turned into oncoming traffic.

“ _I’m going_ ,” I groused, dodging more cars and heading into a tunnel, passing under a rather large holo-spread of ‘WANTED: piracy, kidnapping, vandalism and murder’, carried by a mugshot of a snarling Jack, hefting a card bearing the number 24601.

“Truck,” said Liara.

“I see it.”

“Truck!”

“ _I see it._ ” I veered out of the way.

“I’m going to be sick.”

“I’ve got her.”

“You’re…enjoying this.”

I whooped as I drew closer, then hissed when something exploded and rocked the car. “She’s setting proximity charges.”

“Yeah, tell me something I don’t know,” I snapped, “What kind of guns does this thing have?”

Liara threw her hands in the air, exasperated. “It’s a _taxi,_ it has a fare meter.”

At last, I gunned the gas and drew up on Vasir. She glared sideways at us when she realized us, swerved away to the right, and then right back to ram us in the side. I strafed left and came back harder; and watched with satisfaction as her car went spiraling down to the pedways below. “Got her.”

“Go down, we can get to her car from there,” T’Soni said, twitching in her seat, half-shrieking and grabbing onto something as I brought us in for a swift landing, popping the canopy and gesturing for her to get out first. “Any landing you can walk away from is a good one,” I said, as she collapsed a few feet from the car. “I’m not sure I’ll be walking…” Ignoring her, I dashed ahead, and a few moments later she pulled ahead of me.

“She’s lost a lot of blood,” I noted, following the indigo drip-footprint trail. Looking around, I scowled, asked, “What kind of place is this?”

“It’s an…exotic hotel chain,” said Liara, following me. “Azure is, ah, slang for a certain part of the asari body here on Illium.”

“Oh? Where?”

“Um…in the lower wards, near the bottom.”

I turned around, eyes narrowing. “No, I meant where on the body.”

“So did I.”

We continued, finally found her, I cocked the pistol and stepped forward. “End of the line, Vasir!”

She swayed on her feet, turned to a woman, spat, “Come here. What’s your name?” she biotic-jumped, grabbed her and pointed her gun down at us. The rest of the diners and wait staff screamed, and scrambled for the inside.

“What’s your name?” Vasir repeated, to the woman.

“M-Mariana,” said the woman, trembling, in the low, confused monotone of someone petrified.

“Mariana, you want to live, don’t you?” said Vasir next to her ear, softly. “Tell those people that you want to live.”

“We’ll get you out of here safely, Mariana,” I said, and promptly cocked my pistol.

“Oh, well, that’s good to hear,” crooned Vasir, and I all but snarled down the barrel of my gun. “All you had to do was walk away,” she shoved the muzzle of her gun into Mariana’s left temple, said to me, “Now it gets ugly.”

“Please,” said Mariana, evenly, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I have a son.”

“A son?” Vasir looked to her, “I hope he gets to see you again. I’ve heard losing a parent is just _horrific_ for children.”

I squeezed the trigger halfway, bared my teeth, let it go. Behind the gun, Vasir was smirking at me. “Scars them for life.”

“I’m going to end you, Vasir,” Liara swore lowly.

“Blue, we’ll handle it,” I cut in over her, looking back, narrowing my eyes, holding the gun aloft. “The usual way.”

Vasir cocked her head. “You want Mariana’s little boy to grow up without a mommy, Glenn?  Thermal clips on the ground now, power cells too.”

I cocked my head slightly, pulled the hammer back and let it snap forward again. Smirked. “Hiding behind a hostage, Vasir? No stomach for a real fight…” I lifted an eyebrow, marginally. “Just like an asari.”

“Drop the thermal clips, Glenn,” she snapped.

“You girls should really just stick to dancing,” I went on, taking a step forward, “You know, play to your strengths.”

T’Soni gave me an irritated sideways glance.

“Drop the clips!”

“I’m gonna kick your ass, Vasir,” I said, taking another step forward, reaching into my pocket and switching my visor on, sliding it back into place. “And then I’m going to give your head to Mariana as a wall-mounted trophy.”

The gun was pointed at us again. “You’re bluffing,” she said. As soon as I saw the table lifting behind her I barked, “Hit her, Blue!”

The table flew over, knocked Vasir into the water. I helped Mariana up, and she ran inside without further word.

Not a moment too soon, because Tela shot up out of the water, and biotic-jumped again- something like I had never seen- a few feet away. She screamed wordlessly, pulled a shotgun, and faced me down. “ _I’ll_ show you how a Spectre fights,” she roared; a split millisecond before I plugged her with a full round. The shotgun clattered to the ground, as her hands fell slack along with her jaw. She stared at me, shock painted along every contour of her face. Wordlessly, I popped the heat sink, cocked the hammer again, and shot another six. She went to her knees, breathing heavily, hanging onto the edge of a planter for support. I locked my last thermal clip, still without a word, and nonchalantly plugged her with six more. I pulled the trigger again, but all I got was the _click_ of an empty weapon.

“Apparently you’ve never seen an Omega fight,” I said, turning and putting the Carnifex back in its thigh holster. “Quick, dirty, and ruthless.”

Liara approached her as she crawled, on her hands and knees towards the wall. “Damn it,” she hissed, as T’Soni plucked the OSD, “ _Damn it,”_ breathing rough and heavy, violet blood dripping out at an alarming rate, everywhere.

“Sekat’s personal datapad,” Liara shared, scanning the blipping storage device with her omni-tool. “This has what we need to find the Shadow Broker.”

“You’re dead,” I heard, growled, behind me. Vasir had slumped against the wall, smearing indigo on the white. “The Shadow Broker has been in power for decades. And he’s stronger than _anything_ you’ve ever faced.”

I paused, turned back. “Is that why you sold out the Council to work with him?”

“Like Saren?” she hissed. “Go to hell. The Broker’s given me damn good intel over the years. Intel that’s saved a lot of lives. So if he wants a few people to disappear…”

“You’re a goddamned murderer,” I said, kneeling in front of her. “You blew an office building to see one asari dead; blew up civilian cars with your little proximity charges stunt, don’t even make me start on hostages- and really, that was a pathetic attempt; I’m from the _Terminus,_ for Christ’s sakes! The place is crawling with batarian slavers! That’s like, hostages, but permanent!” I shook my head. “You act like such a badass, but you’re in over your head.” I eyed the excess of blood. “At least you won’t be for long.”

“Really?” she snarled. “We’re not so different, you and I. I know what you are, Glenn. I know what you were supposed to be. I know what your little terrorist friends did to you. What they did to so many other people. You want to judge me? Look in the mirror.”

I looked off to the side, making a clucking sound with my tongue firmly planted in cheek (literally, you make that noise with your tongue in your cheek; something Jeff found absolutely hilarious.) “Little difficult, Vasir. It doesn’t matter where I came from or what I was supposed to be. It’s who I am now and who I plan to be that even remotely matters. Also; you’re blue. I’m more of an off-orange, sort-of brown…”

“You can’t run from your past!” she hissed, gurgling. I winced, drawing minutely back. “Don’t you dare judge me. Don’t you dare…” she trailed off, eyes following me as I straightened up.

“…maybe we do look similar,” I said, at last. “But you came after my flock. You endangered _my people._ ” I bent at the waist, reached around for the back of her neck, and located the amp port. “And now that you aren’t threatening them any longer, I’m done with you,” I said, as I popped the amp and studied it- L5n, interesting. I pocketed it without a word, turned and left her there, only stopping briefly to examine her shotgun- a Spectre-issue Wraith- and take it along with me.

I paced past Liara, who stared quizzically after me. “What do you mean, your flock?”

I slowed down my pace. “I…old human expression. A flock- usually, of sheep- wooly little things that we’ll shear to make clothes. They have to be guarded from wolves, though, usually by sheepdogs. Sheepdogs, and…shepherds.”

Liara smiled, minutely. “So I’m your flock? We’ve barely met.”

“A friend of my friends is good enough. And besides, we’ve got time to chat. Where’s this planet we’re off to?”


	4. Calling in the Light Brigade and Charging the Central Nervous System

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took a quick trip to Annapolis over the weekend and worked a bit on my novel- and now I finally have another new chapter of LotSB for everyone. As always, credit goes to Bioware. Enjoy the new installment- and, if I don't post again before then, happy fourth of July!

“Hagalaz,” I repeated, following Liara to the spaceport. “Sounds like a krogan disease. Do they even take ships out to there?”

She shook her head. “Not that I know of,” she told me, “We’ll have to rent a shuttle and go there ourselves.”

“Well, you’re in luck, I’m a fair flier. Although, if we’re both going in…I doubt we can just park on the Shadow Broker’s ship.”

“And we can hardly hire a pilot,” Liara finished. We kept walking our way down the docks, thinking in our own respects until a voice cut into our introspections: “Hey, ladies. Need a ride?”

A few moments later, we were (miraculously) on our way to the Hourglass Nebula, in what looked like a stolen shuttle with a familiar pilot. “Heard on the grapevine you were on Shepard’s business on Illium. After the Shadow Broker?” Tomcat looked back at us from the cockpit, staring down a crooked nose and arching an eyebrow. “Thought you could use a little help. Also, I could stand to get rid of this shuttle before it gets traced to me,” she drawled, in her characteristic Cape Town dialect. She pushed a few controls; we shifted our course, and continued.

“Well, we’re flying into a lightning storm,” I conceded, shrugging. “That shuttle will be history.”

“Precisely. And I figured, you know, you could use a hand.” Tomcat shifted the seat around to face us, crossing her arms and legs. “I hope for your sake you’re confident we can take the Broker. Because his ship is gonna be the only way out. And I have a goddamned date at the Dark Star tomorrow.”

I smirked, quirking an eyebrow. “With Zaeed?”

Tomcat snorted, turning back to the console. “With who do you think, y’little smartass? Don’t even start, there, ‘cause I can give as good as I get.”

“Yeah,” I said, smiling slightly and tracing the _SR2_ with my thumb.

As we drew on, I peered out the virtual windows to the ship hiding in the tumultuous clouds, lightning forking to light up the huge hairbrush structure.

“Hagalaz,” said Liara. “The oceans boil during the day and then snap-freeze ten minutes after sunset. There’s a constant lightning storm where the hot and cold air collide.”

The ship was following the constant curve of the storm, lingering on the cusp of the tumultuous clouds. “Jen?”

“Be ready to jump, kids,” Tomcat barked from the cockpit, as she fought with the tumbling shuttle. “We’re gonna have to magnetize as soon as we clear the Kodiak; and stick to the side of the ship. Shuttle’s gonna fly away; and it’s gonna go wherever the wind takes it.”

As the Kodiak rocked, I yanked on my recon hood and moved to the door. Liara followed after me, locking on her breather mask, and readying to jump. She looked to me, eyes wide and blue with fear- I could almost see something of myself, younger, scared. I held out my hand. She grabbed onto it.

“ _GO_!” Jen shrieked, and together we jumped.

We magnetized midair- and suddenly we were racing down and sticking to the side of the ship. Tomcat came down after us, fighting with her switch in the boots until she too magnetized to the hull. The shuttle flew about pilotless in the winds, twisting in the howling gusts, and then slamming a huge hole into the side.

“There’s our way in,” I said, into the comms. Tomcat nodded through her breather helmet, and followed after Liara as she led the way.

Once we passed into the breach, followed the hallways, magnifying the howling winds, and passed through the first airlock, we tugged off our helmets, and I stuck on my visor. “From the schematics it looks like we aren’t that far from the detention block.”

“That’s where Feron is,” Liara said determinedly, smoothing the dust off of her jacket and pulling up the map on her omni-tool. “Come on.”

“Wait up,” I said, grabbing her elbow to bring her to a halt. “I’m getting something on the IR overlay. This room is heating up.” I pulled up my omni-tool and started tapping interfaces. “Looks like the shuttle crash damaged the ship’s systems. The second and fifth engines have gone completely down, and the third and fourth are fizzling. If we lose four engines then the ship’s going to fall behind the storm and into the hot zone.”

“And…?” Tomcat’s eyebrows went up.

“And we boil alive.” I opened up more diagnostics, tossing them to the right of my holo-display. “In addition, it’s also notified the Shadow Broker we’re aboard. Find defensive positions. His agents are pouring into this position.”

“How many?” asked Liara, looking widely up to me.

My brows furrowed. “A metric fuck-ton.”

Tomcat pulled her Viper. “Let it never be said a bottleneck isn’t a life saver. Let’s get into cover.”

“How are we supposed to defeat so many?” Liara objected, her hands clenching.

I paused, thought hard. “There might be a way,” I said, finally. “But I’m gonna need time. Blue, I want you to plug up the doorway with a singularity. Tomcat; shoot out everyone that gets caught in it. No one gets past that first generator, understand?”

“And you?” Tomcat crossed her arms.

I hurried and crouched into cover, throwing up a barrier. “I’ll need time to hack the Shadow Broker’s firewalls. They systems are gonna be nigh impenetrable; but if I can deploy a Trojan virus with the frequencies we got on that intercepted transmission, I can gain access to his ship’s systems and open up that airlock again.” I pocketed my visor, yanked on my hood, flipped the switch on my shoes. I pulled up my omni-tool. “Magnetize and get your helmets on. Once the airlock’s open everyone that isn’t attached is gonna get spaced.” I started the diagnostics, and looked to them one last time. “Get ready. They’ll be through the door in a minute.”

As I fell behind cover, I heard the blowtorch start on the other side and the yells of the mercs. My breathing accelerated. The hood’s internal systems wicked off the sweat that dripped down the bridge of my nose. The virus began to upload. My omni-tool flashed red, then a progress bar appeared. _Download 1% complete._

The door popped open. There was the sound of a warping singularity; then an outbreak of gunfire. There was yelling over comms about a trap and needing snipers. _10% complete._

There was a hissing sound- sounded like Tomcat, like she was hurt. I tried to look, but I wouldn’t be able to see without leaning out of cover. _36% complete._

Once I heard a rogue agent dashing forward, a few slugs fired- there was a yell, suddenly, a noise I recognized as flesh ripping. On the air, I caught the scent of blood and eezo. _67% complete._

“ _Glenn_!” Tomcat was screaming over my earpiece. _Diagnostic fixed. Implementing protocols. Welcome, Shadow Broker: please input command._

“ _GLENN_!”

“ _I’m working on it_! _”_ I barked back, punching in the order, _open airlock portside 66._

“ _Get the door-_ ”

The airlock door flew open. Instantly the ambient noise disappeared as the Broker’s agents shot out into space, flailing, screaming. I grabbed on tightly to the fixtures on the wall, squeezing, fighting against the vacuum. My hood’s eyepiece popped up, _hostile forces terminated,_ and I reached to my omni-tool, punched the _close_ command, and slumped against my cover when the doors shut and the pressure began to equalize, flooding the room with breathable air.

I yanked off my hood, turned out to see the others. Liara was getting shakily to her feet, and Tomcat was finishing in applying medi-gel to her forearm, tugging off her helmet and pushing sweat-limp strands of dark-blonde hair from her eyes. “Son of a bitch,” she breathed, “I didn’t think you’d do it.”

“Ye of little faith,” I said, and tucked my hood away into its proper pocket, putting my visor on again.

“How are the engines?” Liara asked.

“Broker’s getting ‘em stabilized. Repair drones are on it.” I searched thermal signatures. “It appears the place is also clear of his agents. It’s just us…and him.” I opened the prison block. “And Feron.” I lifted my head, and Liara turned and led us towards the containment cells, through deserted halls. At last we came upon a glass window that looked down on a drell, caught in constraints like at some hairdresser’s from hell. Before us there was a panel that Liara rushed up to. “Feron!”

I followed, cautiously, tilting my head to peer through the tinted glass. _It couldn’t be the same._ But, lo and behold…

“…Liara?” the vibrantly-hued drell lifted his head, more croaky than usual, and then suddenly he came to himself, starting to say “Don’t-” before a charge zapped into him and dropped him back into the chair, groaning listlessly.

“Feron…how do we…?” Liara began to look over the controls.

“The Broker’s got the prison block protocols hooked up to the main power,” he said. “Pull me out now; my brain cooks.”

I pulled up my map, and shook my head. “Only place we can cut the power is in the center chamber…” I looked up. “The Broker’s waiting for us.”

Liara crossed her arms. Then, she scowled, and turned back to the glass. “We’ll get you out of here, Feron.” She turned, and asked me in a lowered voice, “Which way to the central chamber?”

“Down this hall,” I said, pointing.

“I’m about ready to kick this guy’s ass,” said Tomcat, cracking her knuckles. “Say when.”

Liara looked to us both, suddenly almost nervous, overwhelmed. I reached out, touched her shoulder. “We’re right behind you, Blue.”

She nodded, then, stoning up, determination taking the place of hesitation. She pulled out her Locust; I took out the new Wraith and Tomcat unslung her Viper.

“Let’s go get him, then,” she said, and led the way down the hall.


	5. Why Glenn is Not an Asari Matriarch and why it is Inadvisable Anyway

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! At this rate I'll finish today. Everything, again, belongs to Bioware, and enjoy.

There were several reasons I was a bit skeptical of going up against the Shadow Broker- sure, we’d penetrated his impenetrable, invisible hideout, killed all his goons, and made it to the brain. It hadn’t been easy, but we’d done it- and now there were three of us and still only one of him. Still- the Broker knew everything. And knowledge, as I’d so stated long ago, is power.

At last we opened the doors, and let ourselves in. Liara stepped inside, leveled the SMG, said, “It’s over.”

The shadowy figure behind the desk looked like a small mountain. “Dr. T’Soni,” he said. “Your involvement has barely slowed me down. You will not leave here alive.” He possessed the same comically low voice as his agents; but on the unknown it proved much more imposing. His head turned. “Glenn. I know what you are- a pretender, lair, child of two worlds. Your outward appearance casts stigma onto what is otherwise accepted.”

I held the Wraith aloft, fury suddenly boiling in me. “Cut the tricks, Houdini. You assume I give a shit.”

He surveyed us both, with apparent nonchalance. “Quite the contrary. I know your every secret, while you fumble in the dark. It is good you brought Bond, T’Soni. The bounty for her head is yet unclaimed.”

Tomcat loaded her rifle, muttered a very Massani-esque, “Got to take it first, you son of a bitch.”

“Really?” Liara took a few steps forward, narrowing her eyes, scrutinizing the Broker. “You’re a yahg. A pre-spaceflight species confined to their homeworld for butchering the first Council contact teams. You were likely taken prisoner as an exotic species dealer; and sold to someone who wanted a trophy…or a pet.” She cocked the Locust, smirked. “How am I doing?”

There was no answer from the Shadow Broker but for a huge, heavy growl. He stood, lumbered into view, taking an aggressive stance and letting loose with a huge roar. He then flipped his desk and sent it flying for us. Liara dove to one side and I rolled to the other, but it took Tomcat clear in the chest and knocked her back with an _oof._ She didn’t get back up.

Now it got personal.

“How do we take him down?” I called.

Liara looked up, to the odd vat of white energy above his head. “If you can keep him occupied, I have an idea.”

The Broker roared wordlessly, and charged at me.

I don’t think the brute expected me to vault over cover, plant myself squarely in his path and scream a penetrating “ _YAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!_ ” right back in his face. He stood there stunned for a millisecond- enough for me to muster all the biotic force possible, and knock him onto his back in the dead center of the central circle. As he struggled to find his footing, I staggered, clutched my brain and hoped that the fact I was worrying I’d hemorrhaged myself was evidence enough that I hadn’t hemorrhaged myself. “Liara, _NOW_!”

A few shots from her SMG pierced the overhanging glass. The Shadow Broker staggered to his feet, growling. Liara dropped the Locust and pulled with her biotics, _down._

The Broker looked up, emoting a questioning _hm?_ Like a confused bear.

The glass shattered, and buried him in a rush of white matter. When the flood was gone; his body had completely disintegrated.

We both stood there a moment, dumbfounded, and suddenly we were hugging. “T’Soni, that was fucking _brilliant._ ”

“You fought like a krogan _battle_ master!”

“In all my years, I would’ve _never-_ and I called myself _wise,_ more like wise- _ass_ -”

“Hey, ladies,” came Tomcat’s gruff bark, “A little _help_ over here before this thing shatters my knee? Last I checked, crutches are _far_ from this year’s sexiest styles.”

I snorted. “Good to see you’re all right, Jen.” I strode over to the piece of the broken desk pinning her down, and pushed it off. I extended a hand, and helped her up, just as the lights flickered off and on again to announce Liara cutting the power.

“There’s Feron out,” said I, “Should we-”

It was in that moment that a wall of heart-monitors began flashing red and beeping out of sync. “Shadow Broker, we’ve read an interruption in systems, please confirm-”

“Shadow Broker, are we still online?”

“Please confirm-”

“-confirmation, requesting-”

“-assistance-”

“-Broker-”

“-Shadow Broker-”

Liara’s eyes were skittering across the terminals, the sensory overload, and then, sudden action.

She strode forward and brought up the auditory masking sequence.

“This is the Shadow Broker.”

Liara T’Soni spoke into the terminal; and the indeterminate gutter of the yahg we had just killed came out.

“We experienced a minor power fluctuation while testing equipment. All operations are to resume as normal. I expect a new report by the next solar day. Shadow Broker…out.” As she stepped back, only then did the magnitude of her decision seem to fall on her.

As I watched her, a distinct rasp came from behind us, as a wide-eyed and colorful drell stepped forward. “Liara? …but, then, that…”

“It was either that or lose all of his resources,” she said, looking back to us. “His contacts…”

“So that means…” Feron trailed off. “ _You’re_ the new Shadow Broker.”

Liara nodded, but then she looked overwhelmed, and then she looked close to tears.

Tomcat commandeered Feron. “We’re gonna go…check the bulkheads.”

As they made their way out, I looked to Liara, struggling with her emotions, and crossed to hug her. “Hey…it’s okay.”

She sniffled into my shoulder. “Two years of plotting revenge. I…it’s over. It’s finally over.”

I crossed my arms. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

She nodded, wiping her eyes. “Yes. I…yes.” She turned to the console, and nodded to herself. “Let’s see what we’ve got.”

I watched as the datafeeds piled up, and as our eyes grew bigger.

“You know; it’s good I’m not helming this operation. I doubt I’d be able to keep myself honest for a thousand years; with this kind of intel.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m glad I’m not gonna grow to a matriarch, Blue. And…I’m glad you’ve got this.”


	6. The Eye of the Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And at last, the end of this short foray between _Trust_ and _Pride_. Speaking of the next installment, it should start tomorrow or possibly Thursday. As always, all belongs to Bioware, and please enjoy!

Tomcat left on one of the Shadow Broker’s shuttles that night- “I told you I have a date, fuckers.” Liara, after observing the quantity of shuttles, told her to keep it. “As a gift, from me to you.”

Jen Bond flew off in the lightning storm, but I asked first for the comm channels, to call up the _Normandy._ The number was blocked. Odd, but…well, the Alpha Relay was full of batarians and probable interference, right? I tried not to worry too much, and smiled gratefully when Liara said I could stay the night-cycle.

Without an alarm or the telltale activity outside my door to tell me morning was here, I got a solid twelve hours. When at last I woke, I shuffled out to the main chamber in the ship, pausing as the info drone hovered by me. “Hello, Shadow Broker!”

“I’m…not the Broker,” I said.

“May I assist you, Shadow Broker?”

I blinked. “Where do you keep the coffee?”

“I do not detect any ‘coffee’ in our stores, Shadow Broker. Should I put in an offer to procure some.”

“Nah, forget it. Where’s Liara?”

Feron passed me by. “She’s up there,” he pointed, “Don’t bother with that. It thinks everything in the room is the Shadow Broker.”

“I will be glad to further assist you, Shadow Broker,” said the drone, and then it whizzed off.

I didn’t move just yet, though, I just stood a moment, and looked him over. He did the same, and finally spoke: “I didn’t recognize you at first.”

“When Liara mentioned your name, I had a hard time believing it was the same person,” I confessed. “Knew as soon as I saw you. You don’t get colors like that often.”

He smiled, big dark eyes casting down briefly before flickering up to mine again. “You’ve changed so much.” He tilted his head. “I’ve learned humans do that, but…”

“You got taller,” I said, and let the smile speak for the rest. He chuckled a little, admitted, “Yeah.” Together we stood for a few moments more, and he gestured vaguely at me. “Liara…told me a bit about you, you…are bound to someone? A human, of your crew, on the _Normandy_.”

“Well…yes, by your terms, I suppose we are. I mean…it’s not like…it’s only been a few weeks, is what I mean.” I took a deep breath. “But…yes. Jeff and I have…found a lot of happiness with each other.”

Feron’s smile was a little bittersweet. He tilted my chin, said to me, “My wish is for you to be happy,” and pressed a brief kiss to my forehead. His hand dropped. “…you should…probably go up to her now. I don’t know what she was watching, but she looked upset.” He hesitated, and then left me alone, striding away through the halls of the ship.

I followed Feron’s directions, and I found Liara sitting somewhat pale-faced (as pale as asari got), over something that looked like dark, strong tea.

“Blue?” I slid into the opposite seat. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

She started, like she hadn’t noticed me there until just now, and she groped for the controls to flick on the terminal on the wall. “You need to see this.” Her voice was grave.

The al-Jilani woman Pax had walloped popped onto the screen. I made a noise of disgust. “Okay, yeah, that’d start anyone’s day bad.”

“It gets worse. Listen.”

The vulture looked quite pleased. Smug, even. _–Charlotte, Paxton, and John Shepard have recently surrendered themselves to Alliance custody. Details are classified, but it is confirmed that the Shepards recently destroyed the Alpha Relay, catching a batarian colony in the blast. They arrived today on a Cerberus vessel, with only a skeleton crew remaining. As their trial unfolds, we will have more details-_

Liara turned the feed off. I turned to her, struggling, horrified, and she passed me her drink. I snatched it and slammed it in one go, setting it down hard on the table. “… _what_?”

“I checked,” she said, “I already…they drove an asteroid into the Relay to stop the Reapers. The batarian colony of Aratoht was also destroyed by the ensuing explosion. The Alliance has called them in to answer for their…” she swallowed, struggling visibly with the word, “…war crimes.”

“And the…” I spluttered, _those assholes, those fucking assholes, goddamn it, goddamn it all to hell, damn damn damn-_ “The crew. It said they had a skeleton crew.”

“I have agents on Illium that reported their leaving most of the crew there. Including the rest of your squad…most of the operatives.” She was scrolling through a datapad now.

“Who _didn’t_ leave?” I asked, trying not to let my voice tremble, gripping the edge of the table until my knuckles turned white.

“In this list I’m not seeing…” she trailed off as she put two and two together. “The engineers…”

“Gabby and Ken,” I said.

“Doctor Chakwas stayed on the ship as well.”

I nodded rapidly.

“And…” she pursed her lips, looking sympathetically up to me. “…Joker didn’t leave either.”

In hindsight I should have known. I _did_ know; just…I’d been holding out some foolish, girl’s hope that he’d abandon his ship, his _commander…_ half of me was horrified, heart in my throat, _what were they going to do to him-_ the other half of me proud, immeasurably so, knowing that I would have done the same.

I tapped my fingers on the table, biting my lip, trying not to cry. “I…don’t think I’ll be making it back to the _Normandy._ ” Fuck it, the tears were gonna come, I just needed to get _away_.

Liara nodded at me. “You can stay here. As long as you need.”

I nodded once, barely managing an admission of gratitude before I made it back to my room, let catharsis overtake me, sat against my door and cried, and when that was done I had to sit and look at my hands, wonder what to do next. For once in my life, I had no plan.

What was it that Joker said? Flying by the seat of your pants.

Damn, but it hurt to think about Joker. I couldn’t wonder now if I’d ever hold him again… _when,_ I told myself. _It’ll be a when. You’ll see him again. You just have to believe that._ It was a day of introspection, thinking, _what now_ , before at last falling asleep.

The next morning, when I woke, I smoothed the covers out, perched on the bed and meditated for a good hour. Sometimes it benefits, simply to sit quiet and work everything out. Then I rose, used the considerably better-functioning showers aboard the Broker’s ship, and dressed-

Red corset. Dark red, like blood. Black leather pants (I’ve always wanted a sick-ass pair of leather pants), oiled up like a sin and supple as a baby’s butt. The coat went on, as always (because some things never change). The makeup- smoky eyes, black with a violet tint; the old royal purple lipstick across the bottom lip.

Red paint, on the top. Scarlet, bad-bitch red, like I could cut a man’s heart out with a high-heeled shoe and fucking eat it. A bar down the line of the bottom, and on the chin. Your past is always part of you. How you came to be, a mere consequence of the present and the future. Yet the present is only the present for a moment before it becomes the past, and the things we accomplish tomorrow are all for the things that we learned yesterday.

Boots to the thigh. Hell yes. Hair tied back, ripped ear on display, two notches shaved into my eyebrow.

The world’s like hell already; sinners, well, they fit right in.

I found Liara working at her terminal, crossed my arms and cocked an eyebrow at her until she looked up to me and smiled. “New outfit?”

I shrugged, spreading my arms and turning about for her benefit. “New stage, new look. You know. Reinventing myself. Helps…take the mind off things, y’know.” Shrugged, again.

She looked at the design on my lips. “I like the paint.”

“Yeah. Honor the heritage and all.”

“You’re interesting,” she said.

I smiled, raising an eyebrow. “You sound like you want to take me to a lab and dissect me.”

Her lips twitched; like someone had said it before, and she turned back to her work. I looked to the other terminals around the room, went to one that spoke of funding missions and investing in mining facilities- I walked over to it, and set to work.

It wasn’t long before Liara spoke. “Oh…I looked up a flock. It’s true. Flocks are guarded over, and protected by shepherds…and the sheepdog is used to chase wolves away, keep the flock together; and is generally a loyal companion and instrument of the shepherd’s hand.”

A long silence followed. I didn’t reply, but I looked instinctively out the window, smiling slightly. My hands had frozen, hovering over the terminal. They would never move as gracefully as my helmsman’s, fluid on the glowing orange holo-UI’s, confident and so, _so_ in control, nearly so when they danced across the span of my skin, mapped by tattoos, following the marks and still shaking slightly, disorganized, desperate.

My heart ached; and I filed it away, remembered it. One day we would be reunited and it would be a passing thing, this shadow. This hurt would be no more than just that; a memory.

I pulled his cap from my pocket, tugged it onto my head.

_Get ‘em out of there. Then don’t forget about me, flyboy._

I turned back to the terminal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Psst, want the facecodes for any of the new and noteworthy members of the cast featured in this one? There you go:_
> 
>  
> 
> JENNIFER "JEN" "TOMCAT" BOND: 132.117.WWW.12W.CFJ.9DW.QH1.77C.B12.1C4.CB4.714


End file.
